Cinga Samson

Cinga Samson (born 1986) is a South African artist. Quotes We set out our lives for the results, but at the end, it’s not the result that’s important, it’s every moment THE LATITUDES PODCAST FEATURING CINGA SAMSON 13 September 2023 Kids are very creative. Somehow I never lost that I started to be aware I was Black It wasn’t necessarily that people were being racist, but I could just see the difference in resources. I had to travel a long way to get to school, whereas almost all of the other kids were driving. I felt like life wasn’t embracing me, even though I was at home in my own country. The bags, the brands, the sneakers, the Versace shirts, all of these are included as a desperate cry to be noticed. They’re a means of saying: notice me, I’m cool, I’m something special. Do you see me? I don’t think much about my ancestors. I’m not religious. I need more proof of an afterlife I know there’s more to life than the physical experience we are having. I want my paintings to encapsulate that How can you tell the story of this continent without touching on those beliefs? You can’t. The Friends of Friends Podcast: Cinga Samson n.d Painting needs a lot of discipline to be able to do i before I start a project, I have a sensation that leads me—something that I seem to have noticed through my life experiences or things that I’m observing By the time I’m done with the paintings, I have reached a lot of understanding of what I’m trying to talk about, what conversation the work is trying to have For a long time, I’ve wanted to do works that will have a conversation about violence, but the reason why I wanted to do that show was because I felt as if I’ve experienced violence, or being violated, you know, by life for a long time why is life attached to so much brutality and so much violence? If life chooses, it can dispose of you; you’re just disposable That’s why we have houses with strong walls, padlocked doors, secured spaces, because we are afraid of this thing, that life can just come if it wants to take you The ultimate point of us is death I think life could still carry on without that contract and just be maintained in other magical ways I want to give the viewer not just a picture but some sort of poetry, that sort of a poem or poetry that fills the room, and just kind of whisper it or say it in a way that we can accept it through looking at it There seems to be some energy about the figures and about the paintings. It’s just in the presence. It is there. You know, it’s around the whole painting. Maybe it’s the dark, maybe it’s the quietness, maybe the silence. Maybe it’s just a strange mood that the works convey Painting continues, you know? It’s not something that I could separate or isolate myself from I didn’t want to create works that are about satisfying the audience, but I want to create works that are complete on their own Cinga Samson with Amanda Gluibizzi December/January 2021 I draw inspiration from stories of people who prevailed; those who have beaten the odds and brought change and did good My work starts with a feeling. It could be more than one feeling, like the feeling of beauty and terror, sometimes desire and vulnerability THE IMPENETRABLE STARE OF CINGA SAMSON 17 March 2020 There’s something embarrassing about not knowing answers to questions of our true nature and it is almost overwhelming to try to find answers Sometimes material can reveal something as a lack and also it can be the way to be brave, to step out and experience more Everything has a lesson. Even the worst things, I believe, can lead to our own betterment I like that being an artist demands you to see something about life and the beauty of God. I believe that makes me very religious and spiritual. Cinga Samson: Ubuntu, Terror Management and Belonging September 2026 Whilst apartheid doesn’t formally exist, the structures still exist and favour whites over blacks I was speaking not just from my individual experience, but for other black kids who might feel betrayed and unseen As opposed to being symbols of love, flowers are closely associated with death, and their decay also becomes a relevant symbol for life’s struggles, as well as of death and rebirth ociety has always celebrated a particular idea of masculinity that doesn’t take into consideration that men can be feminine, masculine, macho, and so on I want to paint what I enjoy and what I am attracted to I’m not just dealing with blackness and black body politics, as my work touches on different subjects as it evolves I am more interested in starting a different conversation on representation than the ones that already exist I wouldn’t say that I am at the forefront of black body politics, or that I have a high interest in challenging this I would rather channel the particularities of my experiences specific to the context I grew up in, ranging from spirituality and ceremonial rituals, to the mysticism of all of that, which might seem bizarre to someone who is from a different space I seek to start new conversations around being African, but what I want to represent is an embodiment of the spirit of my people and where I’m from I think there is a current shift in thinking and culture, as well as changes that accommodate new understandings of being a man. Is it a crisis? I would say it is evolving, as opposed to being in crisis. Cinga Samson: ‘a different conversation on representation’ 21 February 2020 External links Category:1986 births Category:Living people Category:Painters from South Africa